Christmas show at Hillcrest Preschool

Keira's preschool put on a Christmas program, and I was so impressed that the kids were able to stay in line on stage! Keira was shy on the stage at first, but she warmed up after the first song. They performed to "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus" and "jingle bells.". I'm glad I got Keira a swirly dress, because she was swishing it from side to side to the beat of the music. Too cute!

Keira's teacher, Miss Johanna, had put a lot of work into the show. She put Keira's hair into her first pigtails! I'm not sure how she managed to scrape her few strands of hair into pigtails. She also made her two hair clips to wear during the show. It definitely made the Keira's Christmas outfit more cute!

Santa appeared after the show was done, but Keira didn't want to get close.

My only regret is that I didn't bring my real camera!! I didn't think of it till we were in the car. Sigh ... At least I have a camera on my phone.

Sea world playdate

Today we had a Playdate at Sea World our neighborhood friends, Carly and Lina. Lina and Keira are completely adorable together. They love to hold hands and are sweet to each other, which is rare for toddler friendships! Lina calls Keira "Kiki"!

First we went to feed the ducks at Paradise Point, which is something that Matt and I do with Keira sometimes, and then we go to have drinks at the Barefoot Bar. Usually we go in the early evening, and the ducks are mellow. This time it was early morning, and the ducks were ravenously hungry and they attacked us and stole the food bags!! I was freaking out, but Keira was cool as a cucumber. She is a very brave little girl.

After that, we went to Sea World and the girls got to meet Elmo! It was a dream come true for them - they both ran up to Elmo without hesitation and gave him a hug. What is it about Elmo that makes kids love him SO much?

Thanksgiving 2012

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house with sisters and grandparents. Everything was delicious, and it was great to see my grandparents and Maya home from college.

I took better pictures with my "real" camera, but I left at my mom's house so I am using the pictures I took with my phone.

I learned some stuff about my grandparents' early life that I didn't know, which is nice, and I successfully avoided cooking my own turkey again. Ha! I'll probably be 50 before I eat Thanksgiving dinner at my own house -- maybe I'll just go from eating Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house to eating it at my daughter's house, ha ha!

I also came up with a money maker reality tv show for my sisters: Making out with the Mahajans. Check out the picture below.

Thanksgiving feast at Hillcrest Preschool

Keira's preschool class had a Thanksgiving feast on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The parents weren't as into the Thanksgiving party as they were for the Halloween party -- only 3 of us showed up! It was still cute, though. All the kids had a good time because they got juice boxes, ha!

The third picture shows Keira putting 3 baby dolls to bed at one time! (There is a baby doll under each blanket.) It's her favorite activity at school and at home.

Chula Vista Nature Center

Our neighborhood friends Carly and Lina took Keira and I to the Chula Vista Nature Center last week. I had never been there before, but I'll definitely be back!

It had a lot of aquariums, a trail with a bunch of aviaries, and a huge tank with sharks and rays. It's surrounded by a wildlife preserve and hiking trails, and there is a great view across the water to Coronado and the skyline of downtown.

It's a great place to bring kids because there are so many "hands on" things for them to do. I definitely want to bring Matt with us next time!

A highlight for Keira was the shuttle bus ride from the parking lot - her first time on a bus!

My little cooking mama

Keira has started to be really interested in cooking. She likes to stand on the stool next to me and help me stir or add ingredients. She also likes to sit at my feet with pots and pans and a wooden spoon. I already know I am going to miss these days when she is older!

Halloween night

Unfortunately, the camera on my phone stopped working at right before "trick or treat" time do I don't have too many photos. We get A LOT of trick or treaters on our neighborhood, so last year we vowed the decorate this year. We are mid- way through painting our house so the decorating turned into a last minute affair, but Matt pulled it off pretty well.

Keira dressed as a monkey because it was a warmer costume than the lady bug costume. We walked all the way from our house down to Adams and back with her friends Jack and Cora. I was so impressed with how the kids walked by them selves the whole way! It's quite a distance. We barely had to carry them at all. Keira picked up the trick or treating really quickly, except that she said it "treat or treat." Too cute!

The people in our neighborhood went all out for Halloween. One house had an operating scene set up in their garage, and another house had a scary movie projected onto their window. Almost every house had a scene or decorations of some type. I think we will try harder next year! There were hoards of kids and people filling the street -- I think a lot of them walk up from south of Adams or drive in to trick or treat here.

Halloween party at Keira's preschool

Keira's class paraded around the parking lot in their costumes on Halloween morning, and then had a potluck feast. Adorable!

Keira wore her ladybug costume, and her neighborhood buddy/classmate wore a monster costume.

Suzie's Farm

Last week Keira and I went to Suzie's Farm with our playgroup. It was a lot of fun! I had no idea that there is so much farm land and open space down near the border.

First thing after we got out of the car, Keira bolted down the farm path. I think she is a country girl at heart - or just doesn't like driving! We saw chickens and goats, and we got to take a big box of veggies home. Yum!

First Halloween party of 2012

Keira's first friend, Cora, invited us to her house for a Halloween party. All of Keira's friends from the neighborhood were there. The kids were adorable in their costumes!

Keira was a ladybug - it worked perfectly because she already had ladybug rain boots!

Keira's hair

I tried to put Keira's hair up in to one of my clips today. It will be fun when she has enough hair for me to play with! I think she liked having the clip in -- she looked like she thought she was fancy -- so adorable! She also loves playing with my jewelry.

Baby doll love

Keira is growing more and more attached to her baby doll. She feeds her, brings her in the car with us-- she also wants to bring her in the bath tub but the baby is fabric so we tell her the doll can watch her from the edge of the tub! She has 2 baby dolls, and so far she doesn't differentiate between them - will be interesting to see if she does in the future!

Sky show

Every year, one of the radio stations puts on a huge firework show at the stadium, and all of our neighbors go down to the end of the block to watch. Its a nice perk of living in this neighborhood!

Border fields state park

Matt and I want to start exploring more of San Diego, so we decided to take a trip down to the Tijuana river estuary. We took a few wrong turns and ended up at border fields state park, which turned out to be really interesting. I had no idea that we have a fence that goes into the ocean along the border.

We headed up to Imperial Beach for lunch, and it was really nice! I had never been there before. The beach was nice and quiet -- other beache are a lot more crowded on hot weekend days. We were impressed. And, it's really close to Coronado, which I also didn't realize.

Keira's preschool

Keira started preschool about a month ago, and it has been a rough transition, but now she loves it. We are both very happy! She is proud of the things she does at school, and I can finally get some work done without having to go to a coffee shop.

Her teacher, Miss Johanna, does a lot of art with the kids and it is fun to see what Keira brings home. She also decorates for the holidays -- even Columbus Day, haha! She had the kids make funny hats.

Miss Johanna sends her home every day with a "report card" of how much she slept, how much she ate, etc. I love seeing what Keira has been up to while we've been apart!